Temptation
by Skylark Evanson
Summary: "It only takes one step, daughter," he told me from the depths of the black abyss below. "One step."


**A/N: "Where the Magic Happens" definitely inspired this one. I loved the sinkhole. Just look at my review and it's amazing how good this episode was compared to all the others in Ultimate Alien. Based after the crew leaves Charmcaster alone in the Ledger Domain and is in her POV.**

**Disclaimer: I own no part of Ben 10 whatsoever.**

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_**Temptation**_

I approached the sinkhole, the voices overwhelming me like unconsciousness climbing over me to bring slumber. I could hear my father calling to me. Other voices telling me I was a lost cause.

"Lost cause," moaned a low feminine voice that was quickly followed up by the sound of my father.

"It only takes one step, daughter," he told me from the depths of the black abyss below. "One step."

While they cried to me, begging me to join them in death and in misery, I kept another voice in my head. One that was stronger, so much more alive and determined. And I never thought I would be so grateful to Gwendolyn Tennyson. She kept telling me that my father would never want me to jump off a bridge.

My father loved me. He had always treated me like an angel despite me being a witch or a sorceress. He always acted as if I were sent to take care of him, to bring him out of his pain and misery and suffering.

I took care of him the best I could. I watched over him as if he was the child and I was his mother. I loved my father more than I loved living. He was my rock and my savior; he kept me together when I needed him most; he was all I could trust in a world full of scrutins and golems and non-parallel sky and earth.

People were non-existent when I was a child. We were nothing more than pitiful slaves in a realm of pain and torture. I blamed Addwaitya. He was a tyrant over my people. He was supposed to be a leader, a ruler, and a passionate fighter for the people. Addwaitya was none of those things. He never even came close.

The canyon's voices screamed to me. My father seemed to be desperate to have me down there with him in that portal of doom. He was practically crying out for me to join him, begging with all his might.

I fell to my knees, wanting with all my shattered heart to go after him. To take that one step. To prove to him that I loved him enough to follow him into death.

Gwen's words kept me from throwing myself over the edge. Despite the tears in my eyes, I clutched the staff in my hands tightly until my knuckles turned an icy cold white. A long, low cry escaped me. I hated not being able to see my father. I hated missing him. I hated knowing that he was dead and that I was still alive. I would've given my own life to keep him safe so he could our people to perpetual freedom without the reign of Addwaitya watching our every move.

The bridge haunted me like a ghost. It was calling to me. "One step," came my father's voice again. "It only takes one step."

"Lost cause." The feminine voice hung in the air. "Lost cause." It was a hoarse whisper. It wanted me to hate myself. For a few moments, I did. And my father wanted me to come to him. I listened quietly with sobs making my whole body quiver.

My fingers clutched the staff even tighter. "Daddy," I whimpered.

"One step, Charmcaster." He nearly had me. I could feel the iron grip on my heart, the strength trying to drag me closer to the threatening edge of the bridge. "It only takes one step."

One step to be with him. I stood again, the tears blurring my vision as I turned again, staring at the dead body of Addwaitya behind me.

My people were free. That was what I wanted. That was what I needed. That was my mission. My mission had been accomplished.

Temptation ripped at my heart. I wanted to be with him. But I wasn't ready to die.

"Lost cause," came the whisper again. "Lost cause."

I screamed into the abyss, hearing my voice ring back at me in furious full force. My hair fell around me, blocking off my vision from anything else but the black canyon below me.

"One step," my father called up to me from the blackened depths. Below me, I could envision seeing his face in the dark shadows. "It only takes one step, my dear."

It did take one step. One step to die. One step to walk away.

I chose the latter.

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**A/N: short, sure, but I got the point across in the way I felt acceptable. R&R. thanks for reading.**

**~Sky**


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